Pinery Provincial Park: Experience A Quieter Winter Beach Getaway at a Yurt
Pinery Provincial Park 9526 Lakeshore Road RR2 Grand Bend N0M 1T0, Canada
Winter view of Pinery Park’s beach that faces Lake Huron
Pinery Provincial Park is a popular spot by Lake Huron for the summer with its iconic beaches, but in the winter the sand becomes covered in a blanket of snow that transform the shoreline into an other worldly icy vista. Though you can escape the cold in one of their many yurts, like we did.
Trip Report:
Pinery offers a lot of winter activities such as cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and a little skating rink but we only did snowy hikes. The cold season is our favourite time to hike so we were mainly there to check out the scenery while being bundled up.
| Type | Roofed | |
| Toronto Drive | ||
| Duration | ||
| Campground | Riverside Area 1 | |
| Site | 476 | |
| Season | Winter (January 2023) |
Day 1: SEttle-In
Site #476: for this trip we chose their more modest yurt (having done a biome yurt the month prior) and although it’s indeed no frills, we found it incredibly charming. Something about the utilitarian build of exposed metal frame and reflective foil of the window coverings made it feel that much more like you’re on an expedition somewhere up north and remote (even though, clearly by the cars park outside, you’re were not - you were in a very cozy park).
Yurt Reservations: (here)
Things to note: you can get some cellphone coverage at the campgrounds but the material of the yurt blocks reception. With the window covers down, you'll be fine but at night we had no service at all since we needed the covers on for privacy and insolation.
For drinking and cleaning, there is water at the comfort station in the laundry room.
Yurt #476 faces other yurts at reasonably close proximity
The yurts come with a couple electric space heaters which we found plenty warm. Warning though, you won't be able to plug a lot of heavy duty electronics at the same time they're running so be aware of how to use the circuit breaker if power cuts out.
An unexpected problem we encountered was with the door lock! If your yurt comes with an older model, sometimes they will freeze in cold weather, making the mechanics stiff. If this happens, call the park warden. But play around with the round nub at the interior side, it should click and move freely.
Park Map: hiking trails and winter activities (skiing, snowshoeing/hiking, ice skating)
Visitor Centre and Cedar Trail
If you travel like us and favour going on less busy days, note that many parks have their Visitor Centre closed on the weekdays. So we weren’t able to check out the building but we did encounter wild turkeys! We then did a short comfortable hike down Cedar Trail; it was very snowed in but well trampled by the weekend crowd.
Wild turkeys at the Visitor Centre, Pinery Park
The view from Cedar Trail
Winter hiking trails
Day 2: Lake Huron
Couples will have ample room to sprawl in the yurts! We like to dedicate one bunk to airing out our clothes since we pack light and re-wear our wool garments throughout the trip. Don’t forget to bring your own bedding!
Interior of one of Pinery Parks’s yurts included two bunk beds, table, chairs and electric outlets
Painting at the Yurt before Explorations
This was one of my coldest attempts at plein air painting and you can really tell. All I had time for were quick brush strokes and broad washes of colour before my fingers froze.
Painting at sub-zero temperatures - watercolours freeze!
Another quick frozen plein air painting
To the Beach
We re-hiked the Cedar Trail to get to the shoreline and it was one of the most beautiful winter scenes I’d witnessed that season. The banks were expansive and swept up the snow into pillowing mounds that made it feel like you were on the moon.
The sandy beaches of Pinery Provincial Park is covered in snow and ice during the winter
A highlight: we spotted a hunting Bald Eagle! Although raptors often migrate, they will stay if there’s adequate food and with Lake Huron too large to freeze over we can only assume there was enough fish to sustain it over the winter months.
Another view of the boardwalk
Another view of the snowy beaches
Hiking The Heritage Trail to Home
This trail is an easy one to tack onto the end of a day. The marvel of it was how many animal prints we came across! If you have a nature guide, bring it! Or download some beforehand. We took photos so we could look them up at home.
Finding animal prints in the snow at the Heritage trail winter hike
Was it chased? Looping animal tracks in the snow.
Nighttime fires back at the yurt
Day 3: Home
Even hardcore home cooks like W like some convenience once in a while. We packed pre-made store brought buns in foil and warmed them up by the space heaters for breakfast. I told you they were hot!
Warming up buns with the space heaters
Final Thoughts
Even if you could only muster a day trip, Pinery is a must in the winter, especially on days where it’s slow and people are lacking. Try to come on a weekday if you can. We usually find this park too busy during peak season in the summer, so a winter getaway here felt like a really intimate way to get to know this popular park.
For our camping gear list, click here.
Support my Work by Purchasing an Art Print!
Related Posts:
A birder’s paradise, we dropped in during spring migration. Bring your binoculars!